Wednesday, December 26, 2012

It’s time for New Year’s resolutions, and for that, I usually look to the kitchen. My resolutions always seem to revolve around food. One year I resolved to eat more potatoes. My dad grows enough potatoes to feed an army so it’s “free” food to boot. Another year, I resolved to make a pot of soup for each week of the year. Two years ago, I resolved to eat more berries. Before that, I resolved to eat more beans.

In all instances, by “more” I am referring to more of these products that are grown in Saskatchewan so that, as the year progresses, I am also delving deeper into the local food economy. These resolutions may seem frivolous compared to more serious pledges for personal self improvement, but I have the satisfaction of having never failed to meet my goals. Gain without pain.

In that spirit, here is a list of delicious, achievable and painless New Year’s resolutions that may spice up your year.

1. Shop at a farmers’ market at least once per season – winter, spring, summer and fall. There are several options: the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market at River Landing; the Wednesday market at St. James Church; daily summertime markets held in parking lots around the city; and weekly markets in neighbouring communities such as Warman and Borden.

2. Visit a farm in 2013. More specifically, resolve to visit a farm at which you can buy farm products. Two good options near Saskatoon are Pine View Farms at Osler, which sells their own meat products, and Robertson’s vegetable farm on Valley Road. Both have on-farm stores.

3. Go berry picking. Berries are the most abundant fruit on the prairies and they are also the healthiest fruit to eat. Picking wild berries such as saskatoons, cranberries and blueberries is an adventure in itself, if you know where to look. U-picks offer the convenience of growing the berries for you, including saskatoons, raspberries, strawberries, haskap and cherries. The fruit growers association produces a map of u-picks around the province.

4. Eat wild foods. If you pick wild berries, you’ll have this one covered. Other wild foods found in Saskatchewan include mushrooms, dandelion and chickweed greens, muskeg tea, juniper berries and, of course, all manner of wild fish and game.

5. Eat more lentils. Saskatchewan is now the world’s largest producer of lentils. Not only do we grow the most lentils, we also grow the greatest variety of lentils – brown, black, green and red. If you are not accustomed to cooking with lentils, check out some cookbooks of world cuisine or ask someone whose family heritage comes from those parts of the world where lentils are eaten every day.

6. Eat your vegetables. Saskatchewan imports well over 90 percent of our fresh vegetables. Both Manitoba and Alberta supply a far greater percentage of their vegetable market. Support our local vegetable growers by asking for and choosing fresh produce that is grown closer to home.

7. Prepare one all-local meal, whether you define local as close as your backyard or as broad as the province. For extra challenge, resolve to cook this meal in the wintertime. For an easier challenge, make it a potluck and share the experience.

8. Be a food tourist: where ever you travel in the province, look for food “souvenirs” that reflect the passion and produce of this varied land.

Finally, my 2013 New Year’s resolution: to eat myself out of house and home. Dig to the bottom of the freezer, clear out the canning cupboard, use up the various bags of lentils, dried mushrooms and oat groats, eat up dad’s potatoes. So by summer, I can start all over again.

Venison Stew

This hardy winter stew makes use of many Saskatchewan ingredients, including frozen peas from my garden. I picked the juniper berries while walking in a city park.

2 pounds venison or beef

1 tbsp butter1 tbsp canola oil

8 potatoes, peeled

2 carrots, peeled

1 big onion

2 garlic cloves

Handful of mushrooms, fresh or rehydrated in water

3 crushed juniper berries

1 tsp crushed dried thyme

2 bay leaves

2 tsp salt and some freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup frozen peas, optional

2 cups water or beef stock

Cut the meat into one-inch cubes. In a large pot or Dutch oven, brown the meat in melted butter and canola oil. Remove the meat from the pot. Meanwhile, chop the potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic and mushrooms. Place the vegetables in the pot and cook until the onion is soft. Return the meat to the pot. Add the juniper berries, thyme, whole bay leaves, salt, pepper and peas (if using). Pour in two cups water or beef stock. Cover. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the meat is melt-in-your-mouth tender, two or three hours.

Monday, December 24, 2012

In the spirit of recycle and reuse, you can now add restaurant to the list. The Hollows is an eco- and local-conscious restaurant in a recycled restaurant! Read my review of The Hollows in the Star Phoenix.

A deliciously creative beet salad.

The Hollows has "adopted" the Golden Pagoda, right down to the teacups used for serving butterscotch custard with a sprinkle of sea salt.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Instead of our usual potluck discussion, my bookclub recently met at a restaurant to discuss our current book, a Korean bestseller called Please Look After Mom. So, of course, we went to a Korean restaurant. All round, a real learning experience! Read my review of Seoul Korean in the Star Phoenix.

A calm bright interior with touches of Korea -

a contrast to the busy street outside.

Meat is grilled by the diners on a hot plate embedded in the table.﻿

Side dishes include kimchi, a national dish of Korea.

Soju - Korea's most popular distilled beverage.

We were pleasantly surprised by its sweet mellowness.

Very easy to sip!

A fried rice dish -

All the food was beautifully presented.

Our server didn't speak English very well, but no worries because the menu, with pictures and ingredients, is conveniently provided on an ipad.

Sunday, December 09, 2012

I was the recent recipient of a lovely little cookbook with a big story. It started when Joanne Green was called to jury duty for a murder trial in Toronto. The trial dragged on, and very quickly, the jurists tired of the standard fare provided for them at coffee breaks.

So Joanne started baking. Every day, she took a different goodie for the jury to enjoy. After the trial, they asked for her family recipes, resulting in the little red cookbook, Justice is Served.

Since receiving the cookbook from her father, John Courtney of Saskatoon, I've been quite stuck on her chocolate almond biscotti. I made two batches just for giving away, but before they could get out the door, we ate them ourselves. So, it's back to the kitchen... You might say, I'm on jury duty!

Divide dough in half. Flatten to form 2 logs approximately 10" long and 4" wide. Bake on parchment paper line baking sheet for 20 minutes at 350. Reduce oven to 300. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes.

Cut diagonally into 3/4" thick slices. Place upright (so you don't have to turn over 1/2 way through cooking) and bake for 15 minutes. You can adjust the baking time depending how dry you like your biscotti.

Thank you, Joanne! What a lovely family and jury momento.
Want to own Justice is Served? It's $15 plus postage. Email Joanne.

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

We all know it’s better to give than to receive. But if you give a cookbook to your favourite cook, you’re likely to receive something good to eat in return. You might say it’s having your cake and eating it, too. Here's list of current cookbooks by Saskatchewan and prairie authors (including mine!) that celebrate the local bounty.

Taste: Seasonal Dishes from a Prairie Table, CJ Katz, Regina. This is a beautiful kitchen companion

with plenty of yummy photographs and stories about some of the farmers who produce the ingredients in her recipes, from honey to bison to prairie cherries.

Breast Wishes for the Men in our Lives, Breast of Friends, Foam Lake. The fifth cookbook from the women at Breast of Friends. Their previous cookbooks raised funds for breast cancer. This one, written for the men who cook, turns attention on prostate cancer, with a forward by entrepreneur Brett Wilson, a prostate cancer survivor.

Foodshed: An Edible Alberta Alphabet, Dee Hobsbawn-Smith, Langham. A tribute to the farmers and gardeners who produce food on a small and independent scale -- their struggles and joys from the farm to our fork. With recipes. Dee was a chef and writer in Calgary before moving back to her family farm in Saskatchewan two years ago.

From Baba with Love, members of the Hanka Romanchych Branch of the Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada, Saskatoon. A rich compendium for those who celebrate holidays in the Ukrainian tradition -- or just love the food. Treasured family recipes with detailed descriptions of the spiritual and cultural significance of food in Ukrainian celebrations year round.

Cooking with Cherries From the Prairies, University of Saskatchewan fruit breeding program, Saskatoon. The new prairie cherry (developed at the U of S) is very versatile in the kitchen, challenging us to think “outside the pie” in dishes such as cherry spareribs, cherry biryani and Hungarian sour cherry soup. Plus cherry folklore from around the world.

The Prairie Fruit Cookbook, Getty Stewart, Winnipeg. Features eleven prairie fruits from apples to grapes with information on picking, preserving and preparing creative recipes such as plum pizza, saskatoon berry salsa and apple soup. Getty started a fruit picking program in Winnipeg. Her cookbook makes the most of all that "free" fruit that needn't go to waste.

Prairie Feast: A Writer's Journey Home for Dinner, Amy Jo Ehman, Saskatoon. A celebration of the food and foodways that flavour our life on the prairies, told with humour and an eye on locally-grown ingredients. Twelve heart-warming stories with accompanying recipes.

Sunday, December 02, 2012

Indulge in these yummy chocolate balls. The secret ingredient is good-for-you cheese.

1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup coconut

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Sour cherries, pitted*

Extra coconut and cocoa

Drain excess moisture from ricotta cheese: place in a fine mesh sieve and leave to drain for one hour or longer.

In a bowl, mix the ricotta cheese, sugar, coconut and cocoa together well. Chill for several hours or overnight in fridge.

Scoop a small amount into your hand and work it into a ball about the size of a walnut, wrapping a cherry in the centre of each ball. If the mixture sticks to your hand, dip your fingers in water.

Refrigerate the cocoa cherry balls until serving time. Just before serving, roll half the balls in cocoa power and half in coconut.

*You can buy locally-grown sour cherries at the Saskatoon Farmers' Market. Or, you can pick your own - many of these cherry trees are growing in yards and gardens in Saskatoon. No cherries? You can make these without the cherry inside.

Amy Jo Ehman

Give the Great Taste of Saskatchewan!

prairie feast

"Out of Old Saskatchewan Kitchens" celebrates the colourful people and recipes that populated our province. It follows my first book "Prairie Feast: A Writer's Journey Home for Dinner." Saskatchewan tastes great -- I wrote the book on it!!